Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus has resulted in the deaths of three people aboard a cruise ship, leaving at least two others seriously ill this week, according to national media.
Two of the three people who died as a result of the suspected outbreak have been identified as an elderly married couple from the Netherlands. The 70-year-old husband died on the ship and his body was removed in the British territory of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, according to the Associated Press. His wife is said to have collapsed while at a South African airport with a planned flight to return home. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she died. The body of the third patient who died was still aboard the ship and no names of any of the three victims was reported as of Monday, April 4, according to media.
At least one of the three patients was in intensive care at a hospital in South Africa, World Health Organization officials told AP reporters. As of Monday, April 4, only one case has been confirmed. An investigation is ongoing.
The vessel has at least 150 passengers on board with about 70 crew members, and is floating off the coast of Cape Verde. At least two people aboard the ship who reported symptoms were crew members and required Urgent medical care, the AP reported.
The ship, the MV Hondius, sailed from Argentina three weeks ago with various stops, including to Antarctica and the Falkland Islands.
When a passenger is injured or experiences a medical emergency while aboard a cruise ship, it is up to that vessel’s medical personnel to treat and assess the situation. In some situations, the medical staff on the ship may not be able to adequately treat a patient’s illness or condition. When that happens, patients are evacuated to a medical facility on shore.
In this case, officials have told reporters that local health authorities have gone to the ship to “assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals” and have not yet decided whether they require transfer.
In 51 years of representing the victims of cruise ship medical malpractice, Leesfield & Partners knows that these evacuations do not always happen. In decades of representing these victims and their families, our skilled trial attorneys have seen the various ways in which these medical professionals have failed to treat their patients or have delayed or altogether denied necessary and potentially life-saving evacuations.
What is Hantavirus?
The hantavirus is one in a family of viruses that is spread by rodents, including rats and mice. Infection can cause severe and sometimes fatal respiratory or renal infections in people. In others, infections may cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). This is a very serious illness with a reported fatality rate of about 40%.
There is no cure, but early detection and medical intervention can increase the chances of survival.
How is Hantavirus Transmitted?
People can get hantavirus by breathing in dust contaminated with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva. They can also become infected by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. The World Health Organization has stated that person-to-person transmission is rare, but some strains — such as the Andes virus — can spread this way. The Andes virus is found primarily in South America and has been associated with transmission through close, prolonged contact.
What Are the Symptoms of Hantavirus?
Symptoms of hantavirus infection typically appear within one to eight weeks after exposure. Early symptoms often include fever, fatigue, and muscle aches, especially in the thighs, hips, and back. As the illness progresses, some people may develop coughing, shortness of breath, and severe respiratory distress caused by fluid buildup in the lungs.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners, a Miami-based firm known for its dedication to clients and dogged pursuit of justice. Over the last five decades, the firm has represented Florida locals, international tourists, and grieving families in some of the most shocking and painful incidents imaginable, including in cruise ship accidents and injuries.
From tragic excursion deaths to slip and falls and severe injuries caused by a ship’s medical personnel, our skilled trial attorneys have seen just about every injury that can occur at sea — and their devastating consequences.
As common carriers, these cruise ships have an irrefutable duty of care to ensure the safety of all passengers, and that includes having adequately trained medical staff to deal with injuries and illnesses on board. However, because these ships sail in foreign waters, U.S. medical-licensing standards don’t always apply. Cruise lines are only required to have a “qualified medical practitioner” on board, meaning that these individual’s qualifications van vary and may not meet U.S. standards on land. While the CDC’s VSP inspects these vessels twice a year, they are looking at hygiene and outbreak control, not individual physician credentials. As a result, ships can be staffed with medical professionals whose training may fall short of U.S. standards, potentially to the detriment of sick or injured passengers.
One Leesfield & Partners client who experienced these consequences firsthand was a member of the crew who went to the infirmary for symptoms of nausea. Instead, he was erroneously given medication rapidly into his IV that clearly state in a black box warning label it should be given slowly injected deep into the muscle over a period of time. If these instructions were not adhered to, the label warned, there was an increased risk for gangrene, tissue injury, and/or amputation.
Tragically in this case, our client was in immediate agony. This was the start of a 17-hour journey in which his right arm would begin to blacken, the tissue dying slowly as cruise ship doctors searched online for ways to help. Eventually, he was able to seek medical attention on shore where doctors attempted to save his arm. They could not.
In the end, our client lost his right arm due to the errors of the doctors aboard the cruise ship. Our client was awarded over $3.3 million in arbitration thanks to the work of attorneys at Leesfield & Partners.
Sadly, this is far from an isolated incident. Our skilled attorneys have represented countless clients who were let down by the very professionals entrusted with their care. From misdiagnoses and delayed evacuations to outright breaches of the standard of care, we fight tirelessly to hold negligent cruise line doctors accountable — and to secure the best possible outcome in every case.
Hantavirus is rare, but it is not the only illness that has made headlines related to cruise ship outbreaks. Outbreaks of norovirus — a gastrointestinal virus that causes sudden vomiting and diarrhea — and Legionnaires’ Disease — a severe form of pneumonia — were both reported last year. Legionnaires’ Disease is caused by the Legionella bacteria, a bacteria that grows best in warm, slow-moving water. When a person inhales water vapor with droplets contaminated by the bacteria, they can become infected.
Eric Shane, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Attorney, recently secured a $4 million recovery in a Legionnaires’ disease case involving the death of a family’s patriarch. This marks the largest recovery of its kind for a single plaintiff in U.S. history.
“I am proud of this result not because of the number, but because it represents justice and accountability,” Mr. Shane said. “The family trusted us to make sure their loved one’s death wasn’t in vain, and we take that responsibility seriously.”
Previous Legionnaires’ Disease Cases
Mr. Shane previously settled a Legionnaires’ Disease case in which a woman contracted the disease after her stay at a Florida hotel where she regularly used a hot tub on the property. The same day as checkout, the woman began experiencing Legionnaires’ Disease symptoms. She had swelling all over her body and a fever.
After doctors diagnosed her with the disease, she went into septic shock and suffered an acute kidney injury. Following an investigation, it was discovered that the hotel failed to maintain the hot tub in accordance with industry standards.
Our client continues to suffer from pain and fatigue. A $300,000 recovery amount was secured for the woman in that case.
Previously, the law firm settled two cases of Legionnaires’ Disease resulting from the same resort. The plaintiffs in those cases were unrelated and were not staying at the resort at the same time. Leesfield & Partners’ Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, along with other attorneys at the firm were able to prove that the resort did not properly maintain or sanitize water systems such as in the multiple decorative fountains featured on the property where Legionella bacteria was able to grow.
A six-figure settlement for each client was reached in those cases.
Previous Cruise Ship Medical Negligence Cases
Previously, the firm represented a 9-month-old whose meningococcal meningitis was misdiagnosed by a stomach bug. As a result of this error, the infant underwent multiple amputations. Leesfield & Partners secured an over $5.5 million award for the family in that case.
A retired nurse who suffered a horrific accident aboard a ship required a life-saving blood transfusion. As the result of cruise medical staff negligently failing to test the blood they administered to the woman, she was diagnosed with HIV. The firm settled the case for $4.25 million.
In addition to errors made while treating patients, Leesfield & Partners has seen doctors delay or deny evacuations for patients who were in the middle of medical emergencies. These delays can occur for a myriad of reasons, however, for our clients, these decisions were made to protect the ship’s schedule and bottom line. As a result, medical situations were exacerbated, leading to further injury and death.
One family who was represented by Leesfield & Partners went on a cruise to mark a milestone anniversary. Instead of a fun-filled family vacation, our clients suffered a tremendous loss that began with their patriarch suffering a heart attack while the ship was still in port. He was denied evacuation and the ship left for its destination, and he later died.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery in that case.
A teenager who suffered a stroke on a ship was written off for her age, despite the obvious symptoms. The case was later settled for $3 million.
In another case, the firm secured $1.5 million for a person having a stroke while on a cruise ship.
Trial Attorney Carlos Fabano recently settled a confidential case on behalf of the family of a wife and mother to three minor children who died after a cruise ship’s medical personnel failed to evacuate her while she suffered from a medical episode.
If you or a loved one was injured while in medical distress aboard a cruise ship, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & Partners attorney today to see if you may be eligible to make a claim.
